Over the objection of many pro-Israel groups and individuals, former president Jimmy Carter will receive award at Cardozo School of Law

Wednesday afternoon, April 10, a journal from Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of law will be presenting former President Jimmy Carter with an award, honoring him for his “human rights record.” The Jewish Press has covered developments concerning this award and responses to it, extensively.

In addition to the many alumni and concerned individuals who spoke out against the Carter Cardozo Award, four of the largest American Jewish organizations have weighed in over the last 24 hours, all expressing their disgust 0ver the decision of a Jewish-affiliated school to give kavod (honor) to someone like Jimmy Carter.

On Tuesday, April 9, two organizations called on Cardozo to rescind the Carter honor. The Zionist Organization of America issued a statement, describing Carter as having a “repellant, decades-long record as an Israel-basher and promoter of Israel’s most vicious enemies, including Hamas.”

The National Council of Young Israel also issued a statement calling on Cardozo to rescind the invitation to Carter. Farley Weiss, the president of the NCYI, wrote, “Mr. Carter’s well-known animus and bias towards the State of Israel has earned him widespread condemnation from Jews and non-Jews alike, and he certainly does not deserve to have any honor bestowed upon by him by an entity that has ties to the Jewish community and the Jewish State.”

On Wednesday, April 10, the day of the award ceremony, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League each publicly criticized Yeshiva University’s law school for choosing to honor and provide a platform to someone with such a well-documented anti-Israel history.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, said the Cardozo law students had not exercised “due diligence” before choosing Jimmy Carter as an honoree.

“Had they done so,’ he told the Algemeiner, “they would have discovered that Mr Carter has never resolved his conflict with the Jewish state. His serial bias against Israel is well-documented. That alone should have led tomorrow’s lawyers, whatever their ethnicity or religion, to conclude that President Carter should not receive such an honor.”

The ADL’s Foxman slammed the students, saying, “The students were wrong – they are entitled to be wrong and inappropriate and we are entitled to say that honoring former President Carter is wrong, especially for a Jewish institution…and indeed for any institution.”

In response to Cardozo’s refusal to revoke the award and ceremony for Jimmy Carter, the Coalition of Concerned Cardozo Alumni issued the following statement:

It is shameful that President Richard Joel of Yeshiva University and Dean Matthew Diller of the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School are not prepared to take a moral stand and rescind the invite to honor Jimmy Carter made by the Cardozo Journal for Conflict Resolution. By providing moral cover for those who would eradicate Israel and who despise America for her democratic values President Carter has caused irreparable harm to Israelis, Jews across the world and democracies across the globe. Cardozo has now provided a similar fig-leaf to President Carter and that is a terrible shame.

Jimmy Carter has an ignominious history of anti-Israel bigotry. He is responsible for helping to mainstream the antisemitic notion that Israel is an apartheid state with his provocatively titled book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”, the publication of which prompted mass resignations from the Carter Center. He has met numerous times with leaders of the terror group Hamas, whitewashing their genocidal goals and undermining US efforts to isolate Hamas. And Carter’s record of slandering Israel is so voluminous that both CAMERA and Alan Dershowitz have written books refuting his lies.

It is disingenuous of the Cardozo administration to justify its decision to allow the event to go ahead in the name of “academic freedom”. If a student journal at Cardozo were to invite David Duke to bestow an honor upon him, rest assured that Cardozo administration would not have remained aloof on the matter. By honoring Carter at a bedrock of the American Jewish community, Cardozo administration not only betrays the values of honesty, integrity and truth but it betrays its community of supporters who rightfully view Jimmy Carter as anathema to the aspirations of the Jewish people and the survival of the State of Israel.

About the Author:Lori Lowenthal Marcus is a contributor to the JewishPress.com. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools. You can reach her by email: Lori@JewishPressOnline.com

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"Seeing that nominally you, an ex-Hungarian, are the so-called editor-in-chief of your student paper,
I would be extremely curious if awarding the antisemitic Carter was personally your idea at all from the beginning.

It turns out that it's your responsibility outright that such a shameful, disgusting figure got awarded anything.
The only positive news is that hopefully this (and other prevaious faux pas-cases like the ultra-antisemite Tutu) contribute to the degradation and discredit this may well bring.
to your now disreputable institution.

And isn't this what the shameless kapos did in the Lagers anno '40s, like how my grandmother in A-Birkenau experienced herself (she had the misfirtune to personally see Amos Göth, the notorious sadist in charge of the camp)?

Can you comprehend at all, can you grasp it with your extremely limited intellect and narrow-mindedness how utterly shameful, objectionable and revolting what you did? Are you a 12 years old feel-good-libtard little boy who is wholly incapable of weighing certain factors and search for, investigate things on your own?
Have you read a book in your life or even better have you personally studied Carter's influence on things? Have you uttered even a critical word while there feteing and celebrating your favourie Israel-demonizer old-school traditional antisemite? If you did not know any of this, why not? Why are you uninformed or underinformed? Why are you ignorant? Or even in a certain way, primitive? What's your excuse not to know what obviously and clearly must be known? Do you have mush for brain, indeed?
Aren't you afraid in fact that not only the predictable neo-Nazis and all kinds of fascists are among your enemies, but completely justifiably also perfectly sane, normal, informed Jewish guys as well? At least those types, who do not wipe the spits in their face and say it's just rain? Or is this perhaps, even worse, merely a function of your being a.
self-hating Jew? One option is worse than the other. Surely, your grandparents who had the misfortune to be Shoa survivors or escapees are now turning in their graves at what a pos (no better description, really) their grandson has turned, even if your parents are applauding you with all four hands. Are you happy at least and intoxicated by the praise and false characterization of Carter by the so-called and ridiculously named "New York Peace Institute"?

Revolting, blood curdling, vomit-inducing, pathetic…

I am left profoundly disgusted, disappointed and angered at obsequious bootlickers at the service of their favourite enemies-of-Jews.
Again, the only good news is that this perhaps could somehow contribute to the discredit of this low-quality so-called pseudo-high brow little publication and through that, the whole institution, sooner or later.